As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic emergence has resulted in mandatory social distancing. Additionally, the international and national measures placed to control the pandemic spread have led to an increased need for safer ways to deal with the fast-spreading pandemic. Due to the increased use and development of telemedicine in the health field, the technology has proved to be the safest interactive way between patients, uninfected and infected, and health workers.
How is the use of telemedicine help those suffering from COVID-19?
Provision of continued access to necessary health services
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its nature of transmission has resulted in social distancing and isolation strategies as control measures for its spread. However, telemedicine technology has allowed COVID-19 patients limited access to required health services at the time necessary through remote care services. Due to this, most patients suffering from various symptoms were denied immediate access to essential health services.
Additionally, the health workers can offer remote care services to their COVID-19 patients without fearing contracting the coronavirus through virtual care. Moreover, the health worker suffering from mild COVID-19 symptoms can also attend to the patient without physically meeting the patient.
Telemedicine has helped free up medical staff and equipment for severe illness cases.
Telemedicine technology allows virtual care for the very regular, essential medicare and yearly checkup. So, the available medical staff can serve more patients through online appointments from different localities in the minimal time possible.
Virtual care also helps create more spaces for medical staff and equipment for those seriously ill from the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, freeing up eliminates physical meeting and call for isolation, reducing the risk of acquiring the COVID-19 pandemic through remote care services.
Telemedicine has reduced morbidity and mortality during pandemics.
Due to the quick spread of the COVID-19 virus, the health workers deployed for COVID-19 containment are at high risk and greater susceptibility to getting infected. If this happens, the available medical workforce can decrease.
Additionally, if the health worker gets infected, the illness can spread to the patients receiving services from this medical worker. The patient can be susceptible to the extent of death. However, through the technological advancement in the health field, telemedicine, a wiser health care delivery approach, will help eliminate and reduce regular visits to health care facilities, reducing the exposure of providers and uninfected patients.
Bottom Line
Having read the above article, you have realized that telemedicine is crucial to continued access to the necessary health care services during the COVID-19 outbreak. Proper use of telemedicine allows for appropriate social and medical distancing with timely access to remote care. Therefore, telemedicine can help control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic between people and their health providers.